The National Centre for Australian Children's Literature, formerly known as the Lu Rees Archives, is a not-for-profit study and research centre housed at the University of Canberra. The founding donation was by Lu Rees. Its director in 2018 was Dr Belle Alderman who is an Emeritus Professor of Children's Literature.
In 1974, Lu Rees, then President of the ACT Branch of The Children's Book Council of Australia [1] instigated a collection of biographical files on Australian children’s authors and illustrators and a collection of their works.
In 1980, the collection of 1000 books and 50 research files were moved to the Canberra College of Advanced Education (now the University of Canberra). The collection was named the Lu Rees Archives. In 1981, Australian publishers agreed to donate copies of their children’s books, a practice which has continued.[ citation needed ]
From 1983 till 1990, the Centre, or the Lu Rees Archives as it was then known, was managed by the Lu Rees Archives Management Committee. In July, the University and ACT Branch of The Children's Book Council of Australia signed a formal agreement outlining roles and responsibilities of both parties in the management of the Archives.
In 2012 the Archives became an incorporated body in the ACT and a Board was established. A Deed of Agreement [2] was signed transferring the responsibility for the Archives to the new Board.
In October 2015, the Lu Rees Archives changed their name to the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature Inc. [3]
An agreement outlining the respective roles and responsibilities exists between the University of Canberra and The National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature. This agreement is reviewed and renewed every five years.
In 2018 Dr Belle Alderman who is an Emeritus Professor of Children's Literature was the director of the National Centre for Australian Children's Literature. [4]
The Centre has a Collection Development Policy which outlines the scope, conservation, use and management of the Centre’s holdings.
The Centre collects material by, and about Australian children’s authors and illustrators. The collection includes books, manuscripts, artworks, artifacts, journals, rare books, reference material, theses and ephemera related to the books. The Centre’s book collection holds over 50,000 volumes including different editions, reprints, and translations of published works. The Centre also holds some 5000 translations of Australian children’s books in over 68 languages
Important to the research function of the Centre is the collection of Research files. These contain 30 different categories of material on more than 550 individual authors and illustrators of Australian children’s books
The Centre has also compiled Finding Aids to the donated papers from several Australian children’s literature creators.
The Centre has been registered to receive donations under the Australian Cultural Gifts Programme since 1988 and received its first donation in 1992.
A large part of the Centre’s collections is its holdings of original artwork, both final and preliminary as well as documentation that showcases the creative process involved in the production of a children’s book. The artwork is numbered and described in the NCACL Artwork Frameworks.
The John Barrow collection of 130 framed original artworks was donated to the Centre in 2016. [5]
Since 1984, the Centre has stored, conserved, and managed, on behalf of The Children’s Book Council of Australia, the original artwork created by various artists for the annual celebration of Children’s Book Week. In 2017, an exhibition of this artwork and related material was held at the University of Canberra. [6]
All books in the Centre’s collection are listed in the Centre’s catalogue which can be accessed through the Centre’s website.
The Centre has created two subject orientated databases of books.
The NCACL Cultural Diversity Database was launched in 2019. This lists Australian children’s and young adult books that feature Australia’s culturally diverse population and understanding the similarities and differences between cultures.
The NCACL Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Resource was launched in 2020 This resource has over 500 books by, for and about First Nations people. Stage One of the Resource was initially aimed at Early Childhood and was funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment. The Resource has been extended to contain books up to and including material for secondary students.
The Centre’s website lists other resources created to assist in accessing material on specific subjects or the Centre’s holdings in particular genres including graphic novels and verse novels.
From 2000 to 2014 the Centre indexed children’s literature publications for The Australian Literature Resource (AustLit). At the launch of AustLit, the Centre provided 12,000 bibliographic records including indexed reviews and articles on Australian children’s literature as the basis for AustLit’s children’s literature records.
The Centre conducts a range of outreach activities to share the collection and knowledge of the creative process.
The Centre is involved with the University’s study programme with undergraduate and graduate students from several disciplines.
The Centre holds exhibitions of artworks and other material from its collection. A number have been in collaboration with other institutions such as the ACT Public Libraries, IBBY Australia, the Belconnen Arts Centre and the National Library of Australia. [7] In 2018 Dr Belle Alderman the centre's director organised an exhibition at the University of Canberra of children's book illustrations. Artists included May Gibbs, Kylie Dunstan, Vivienne Goodman, Graeme Base, Bob Graham, Shaun Tan and Kerry Argent. [4]
The Centre also loans its artwork collections to regional and state libraries and galleries throughout Australia
The Centre produces publications that provide information about its work.
From 1981 - 2013 the Centre published an annual journal The Lu Rees Archives: Notes, Books and Authors. This ceased in 2013 and was replaced by an on-line journal ‘Behind the Imagined: The Journal of the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature’.
In 2014, for its fortieth birthday the Centre published Showcasing Treasures which details the history of the Centre, its collections, and its activities.
The Centre publishes on its website its Annual Reports, a quarterly E-Newsletter and various information brochures.
The Centre is a ‘not-for-profit’ organisation. The Centre receives in kind support from the University of Canberra as part of its ongoing agreement with the University.
In 1988, the Centre was granted deductible gift recipient status with eligibility to receive gifts under the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program
Since the Centre’s establishment in 1974, volunteers have contributed to its growth and development. In recent years, the hours contributed by the Centre’s volunteers is the equivalent of 4.5 full time staff.
The National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature’s website provides information on how to access the catalogue, the Centre’s databases, and other resources such as the artwork, and author/illustrator files.
The Centre is based at the University of Canberra and is open 9-5 Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Access at other times can be arranged by appointment.
Sally Jane Morgan is an Australian Aboriginal author, dramatist, and artist. Her works are on display in numerous private and public collections in Australia and around the world.
Shaun Tan is an Australian artist, writer and film maker. He won an Academy Award for The Lost Thing, a 2011 animated film adaptation of a 2000 picture book he wrote and illustrated. Other books he has written and illustrated include The Red Tree and The Arrival.
Alison Jean Lester is an Australian author and illustrator who has published over 25 children's picture books and two young adult novels; The Quickstand Pony and The Snow Pony. In 2005 Lester won the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Picture Book of the Year for her children's book, Are We There Yet?: A Journey around Australia. Her books have been published worldwide.
The Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) is a not for profit organisation which aims to engage the community with literature for young Australians. The CBCA presents the annual Children's Book of the Year Awards to books of literary merit, recognising their contribution to Australian children's literature.
Robert Donald Graham, better known as Bob Graham, is an Australian author and illustrator of picture books, primarily for very young children.
The University of Canberra Library is the principal Library of the University of Canberra, located in Bruce, Australian Capital Territory. The Library is located in Building 8, University main campus.
The Australian National University Library is part of the Australian National University in Canberra, one of the world's major research universities.
Bronwyn Bancroft is an Aboriginal Australian artist, and among the first Australian fashion designers invited to show her work in Paris. Born in Tenterfield, New South Wales, and trained in Canberra and Sydney, Bancroft worked as a fashion designer, and is an artist, illustrator, and arts administrator.
AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource, usually referred to simply as AustLit, is an internet-based, non-profit collaboration between researchers and librarians from Australian universities, led by the University of Queensland (UQ), designed to comprehensively record the history of Australian literary and story-making cultures. AustLit is an encyclopaedia of Australian writers and writing.
Possum Magic is a 1983 children's picture book by Australian author Mem Fox, and illustrated by Julie Vivas. It concerns a young female possum, named Hush, who becomes invisible and has a number of adventures. In 2001, a film was made by the American company Weston Woods and narrated by the author.
Aora Children’s Literature Research Centre NSW Inc. was a volunteer managed research collection of children's literature that existed from 1992 - 2013 in Sydney, New South Wales.
Kerry Argent is an Australian illustrator of children's books.
Ambelin Kwaymullina is a Palyku novelist, illustrator, and assistant professor of law at the University of Western Australia.
Lucy Frances Harvey "Lu" Rees was an Australian bookseller, book collector and children's literature advocate. She founded the National Centre for Australian Children's Literature
Pamela Lofts, also known as Pam Lofts, was an Australian children's book illustrator and exhibiting artist based in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. She is best remembered as the illustrator of the Australian classic children's books, Wombat Stew by Marcia Vaughan and Koala Lou by Mem Fox. Although known for her book illustrations, she was also a photographer, painter, and sculptor.
Children's Peace Literature Award is an Australian literary prize awarded every other year by the South Australian Psychologists for Peace, an interest group of the Australian Psychological Society.
Nan Hunt (1918–2015) was an Australian children's writer who also wrote as N. L. Ray. She was a two-time winner of the Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature.
Annie Rattray Rentoul was an Australian lyricist and children's poet and story writer, best known for books illustrated by her younger sister, Ida Rentoul Outhwaite.
Margaret Senior OAM was an English/Australian Natural History, Wildlife and Children's Book Illustrator. She contributed to a significant portion of early Illustration of Australia's exploration of rich natural Fauna and Flora. Her works are held in the collections of New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Orange Scientific Collections Unit and The University of Newcastle Special Collections Archives. She created numerous Illustrated posters and Botanical Plates for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. Her illustrations were heavily used by parks and Wildlife, including Bushfire prevention posters.
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